


Riarkle Ficlet Week (Fall Out Boy Inspired)

by astralfreckles



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fall Out Boy Lyrics, Fluff, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:26:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8438467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralfreckles/pseuds/astralfreckles
Summary: 8 Fall Out Boy songs + Riley and Farkle finding their way to each other





	1. Where Is Your Boy?

**Author's Note:**

> This series is a thank you to everyone who follows me, comments on my fics, and just shows me love in general here and on tumblr. I know quite a few people in the fandom who love Fall Out Boy, so I hope you guys like this series inspired by their music!
> 
> FOB's music has been influencing me for years now, and I found a way to create a story by using some of my favorite songs. I will post a new drabble every day this week (for 8 days, actually) that will add on to the story. It will also be posted on [my tumblr](http://astralfreckles.tumblr.com/ficlets).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Where is your boy tonight?_

Farkle stands off to the side and watches as everyone at the party wishes Riley a happy birthday. People are hugging her left and right, complimenting her, and giving her gifts. She truly is the sun, beautiful and bright. Everyone orbits around her, taking in her dazzling eyes and warm smile.

And somehow, Lucas is able to get close to her without getting burned. He’s the one who gets to stand by her side and hold her hand like it’s no big deal. Farkle sees Lucas wrap his arm low around Riley’s waist, making her turn toward him and place a kiss on his cheek. A pit forms in Farkle’s stomach that forces him turn his head to the side and pretend to take a sip from his drink. He can’t bear to watch them for more than a second.

Someone in the kitchen turns music on and everyone around Riley starts dancing. She grabs Lucas’s hand, inviting him to dance with her, but Lucas pulls his hand away and whispers something in her ear. Farkle’s attention is drawn back to them just in time to see Riley’s face go from happy to upset, and then he sees Lucas and Zay leave through the front door. Maya quickly distracts Riley by twirling her around and leading her to a different part of the room, but when the song ends, Riley walks away from Maya and sits down at the living room bay window. She maintains a fake smile on her face, and that seems to fool most of the people in the room. Her specialty is never letting anyone suspect that she’s hurting, but she doesn’t fool Farkle.

He walks over to the bay window and sits down next to her, and he has to fight the instinct to card his fingers through her hair and put his arm around her shoulders. Instead, he settles for what he thinks is a simple question.

“What’s wrong? Where’d Lucas go?”

“I don’t know,” she answers in a defeated tone.

Confused, Farkle continues, “He didn’t tell you where he was going?”

“He just said he needed to go and that he would text me later,” she says, resting her chin on her hand as her eyes scan the room.

“This is your party, Riley. You should go have a good time. Forget him.”

“You’re right,” she says, but makes no move to get up. She sighs loudly, and it pushes Farkle over the edge. Before he knows it, words are coming out of his mouth that he didn’t even prepare to say.

“Riley, is he good to you?”

“What?” she says, caught off guard.

He knows he can’t take it back now, so he just goes with it. “Is he a good boyfriend?” he says, more bluntly this time.

Riley furrows her brow and waits a minute before responding. “Of course he is.”

Farkle doesn’t believe her. He’s not sure if Riley even believes her own words judging by the empty look in her eyes. So he pushes, “Even when he pulls stunts like this?”

The implication must frustrate her, because without another word, she gets up from the bay window and walks to the other side of the room.

Farkle’s not sure what he’s more pissed off about: the fact that Riley is blind to what’s going on in her relationship, or the fact that he knows he could be a much better boyfriend to her than Lucas.


	2. The Pros and Cons of Breathing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I wish that I was as invisible as you make me feel._

Farkle takes the stairs up to the roof of his building, and when he arrives at the top, he looks out at the city below. It’s a cloudy day, the kind that makes him feel like even if it started to rain, he honestly doesn’t know if he would care.

Days like these make him feel even more invisible than normal. It must be because of the persistent grey sky and impending storm, but the reason why he really feels invisible, the main reason, is because of her.

As much as he knows that Riley cares for him, she’s also the one who makes him feel the most invisible. It’s not because she doesn’t have the same feelings that he has, and it’s not in the way that she sometimes passes him in the morning without saying hello anymore. He feels the most invisible when she so obviously gives her affection to someone else, someone who doesn’t even appreciate it, when  _he's_ the one standing right there in front of her ready to give her anything and everything. That’s the worst part.

Farkle wishes he could just hate Riley. Maybe it would be easier that way. He contemplates making a list of all the things he doesn’t like about her, and while focusing on a tall building in the distance, he starts one in his head.

_I hate the way she says my name._

_I hate the way I feel when she’s sitting next to me._

_I hate the way she looks at him._

_I hate…_

He covers his face with his hands. Maybe his jealousy will finally be the thing to make him resent her completely. In the cold, winter air, he sits there, waiting for the feeling to wash over him. He waits for it like he’s waiting for the rain to come pouring down on him.

An unexpected beeping sound comes from Farkle’s phone just then, and he immediately looks over at the screen. It’s Riley. She’s asking him if he’s free and telling him she really needs to talk to someone. His fingers type _yes_ and _I’ll be at the bay window as soon as I can_ with no hesitation, because of course he’ll always be there for her despite how crazy she drives him.

He arrives at the window to find Riley already sitting there waiting for him. She calmly tells Farkle that she broke up with Lucas that morning, but as she goes on explaining the events of the day, she breaks down a little with each sentence. By the time she explains how indifferent he was about the breakup, she’s a complete mess with tears streaming down her face.

Farkle doesn’t even need to think twice about how to comfort Riley. He sits with her all night, only stopping his careful listening to get her some tea and wrap a blanket around them when it gets cold. After she’s calmed down, Farkle notices her eyes flutter closed, so he ushers Riley to her bed and has her lie down while he takes out his phone and plays her favorite song to lull her to sleep.

Looking at Riley’s sleeping face, Farkle doesn’t see sadness. She looks like she’s at peace, and even though he knows she’ll feel upset for a while, he swears that when they were talking before, she seemed to feel relieved, maybe even _free._ Farkle doesn’t want to outright admit to himself that he’s happy about the break up, because he never likes to see Riley hurting, but he’s knows in his gut that this is definitely a good thing. Hopefully in time, he can help Riley to see that too.


	3. Alone Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Let's be alone together._

A month later, Farkle notices that Riley still isn’t her normal self. Right after the break up, she tried to avoid Lucas, but that just wasn’t working seeing as they all had so many classes together. It was only after the whole group initiated a meeting at Topanga’s to get them to talk it out that Riley seemed to be a little better.

But that isn’t good enough for Farkle. He wants her to be truly happy. He wants her to _glow_ again. So, he takes action, and that’s what leads him to his current situation: standing outside her door on a Friday night with nothing but a plan and a nervous pit in his stomach. Tonight, he wants to make her feel _alive_ , so to do that, he needs to muster some courage.

Farkle takes in a shaky breath and quickly knocks on the door. He looks around the hall nervously while he waits, and a few seconds later, the door is slowly opened by a confused Riley.

“Farkle?”

“Take my hand,” he says while extending his right arm out to her. Riley examines his hand and smirks in response.

“Why?”

“I want to take you on an adventure,” Farkle replies, hoping it will make her curious.  Riley grabs his hand a second later and holds it tightly, surprising Farkle.

“Wait, really?” he asks.

“I’ll go anywhere with you, Farkle,” Riley replies, as if it’s the most obvious statement in the world.

“Even to Mars?” he asks.

Riley laughs and answers, “Especially to Mars.”

The adventure is nothing fancy, definitely not a trip to Mars, but he knows it will cheer Riley up. He takes her to all of her favorite places around the city. They go to her favorite pizza place first, and he orders two slices of Sicilian, the absolute best kind of pizza according to Riley. She swears that it taste the best there, but Farkle can’t really tell the different. The pizza is pretty good, but seeing her smile is even better.

He brings Riley to her favorite stationary store next. He points her in the direction of the pens, and after she buys a bright purple one, she tests it out all up and down Farkle’s arm. Planets and stars litter his arm, not to mention a few cats here and there, but he doesn’t mind one bit.

The final stop is to her favorite movie theater, which happens to be Farkle’s as well. A lot of their childhood memories are housed in that theater. His favorite memory is the first time they were allowed to go see a movie without their parents. They went to see _Frozen_ and felt like the coolest kids on the planet.

This time, they end up seeing some romantic comedy that uses way too many clichés and has a tired plot, but Riley seems to like it anyway, and if it makes her happy, then Farkle’s happy. When the movie ends, neither of them gets up to leave like the rest of the people around them. A few couples pass by on their way out of the theater, making Riley release an obvious sigh.

When they’re finally alone in the theater, Farkle asks, “Are you okay?” Riley nods in response but says nothing, so Farkle continues. “What are you thinking about?”

“Just the fact that these movies always have happy endings. The cute girl ends up with the goofy but loveable guy and everyone gets their happily ever after.”

“Movies like this are supposed to end that way, Riley. It’s supposed to make you feel good.”

“I know, but it didn’t.” She frowns and continues, “It didn’t make me feel good this time.”

Seeing the distress in her eyes, Farkle places his hand on her shoulder and says, “Riley, you don’t need a guy to feel good about yourself. You didn’t need Lucas to make you feel like you’re special. You have always been special.”

“You think I’m special?” she says with a bit of hope in her voice.

“Of course. You’re special and talented and beautiful, inside and out. But I want _you_ to feel all of those things within yourself, Riley.”

“I’m trying.”

“I know you are.”

Riley looks around the theater and realizes that all of the other seats are empty. “We’re alone,” she whispers.

Farkle echoes her movements and quickly scans the room. Then, he focuses his attention back to Riley. “In here, yeah, but we’ll never be truly alone, right? You’ll always have me, and I’ll always have you. I mean, we might feel lonely sometimes, but-“

“I never feel lonely when I with you,” she interrupts, and after staring at him intently for a few seconds, she smiles and lays her head on Farkle’s shoulder.

Farkle’s stomach is in knots just from how close she is, and he kind of feels like he can’t breathe, but he’s never been better. Judging by the smile on Riley’s face, he thinks she feels the same way.


	4. 7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I’m sitting out dances on the wall, trying to forget everything that isn’t you._

As their school’s spring formal approaches, everyone decides that it’s best if they all go as a group of friends instead of finding dates. They agree that there will be less drama that way. Farkle goes along with the plan despite wanting to ask Riley to go with him. He figures it’s for the best. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up any more than he already has after what happened at the movie theater.

On the night of the spring formal, Farkle, Lucas, and Zay arrive at the school together in their sleek, black suits and reserve a table in the corner of the auditorium. A big wave of people arrive through the double doors a few minutes later, and Maya and Riley are somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Farkle spots them when Maya’s bright yellow dress catches his eye. He looks at her, appreciating her beauty and quirky charm.

When his eyes shift to Riley, he takes in the sight of her in a royal blue, floor length gown that’s speckled with small jewels as if she’s the queen of the night’s starry sky. Her beauty is so overwhelming that Farkle needs to grip on to the chair next to him to steady his legs. As if that wasn’t enough, Riley’s eyes meet his in the sea of people and her smile is so bright that it shines all the way across the room.  

The DJ starts the music right as everyone enters, and Farkle laughs when he sees Maya practically drag Riley out to the dance floor. Once they start dancing, though, Riley looks like she’s genuinely enjoying it. Everyone is so preoccupied with excitement that they don’t seem to notice Farkle hanging back at their table. He doesn’t mind, though. Dancing has never been his thing, anyway.

After a few fast-paced songs, Maya and Riley take a break from dancing and start walking to the table. Maya, noticing Farkle sitting alone, stops them before they reach the table and tells Riley, “I’m going to get something to drink.” Maya pushes her toward the table and makes a run for it in the other direction. Only then does Riley notice Farkle.

“Farkle, have you been sitting here by yourself this whole time?” she asks in a saddened voice.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I don’t like to dance, and even if I did, I don’t think I’m any good at it.”

“Well, let’s find out. Do you want to dance?”

“Me?” he asks in disbelief.

“Yes you, Farkle. Come on,” she laughs as she takes his hand and leads him toward the center of the room.

Riley stops when they get to the middle of the dance floor, and Farkle awkwardly points out, “But Riley, it’s a slow song.”

“It’s okay. It’s really just moving back and forth, anyway,” Riley explains, as if to convince herself.

In that moment, Farkle is painfully aware of how loud the music is, how hot it feels in the room with all the people around them, and how Maya’s eyes are on them both, as if she’s curious to see what will happen next. If that wasn’t enough pressure, Farkle sees Riley move in close to him and feels her arms wrap around his shoulders. He tries to push all of the distractions aside so he can just focus on the feeling of being with her. All of those other things just don’t seem important when Riley Matthews, _stunning, gentle and magnificent_ , is dancing with you.

They sway back and forth to the music without saying anything for a while before Riley breaks the silence. “See, it’s not as bad as you though, right?” Her gaze is unwavering while waiting for his response.

“No, not at all. Bad is nowhere near the right word to describe this,” he says, adjusting his hands on her waist and trying to conceal his blush.

The song ends and they move away from each other in a sort of dazed state. Farkle is still lamenting the end of the moment as the next fast song starts playing, and Maya, Zay, and Lucas all suddenly run toward Riley and Farkle and join them on the dance floor. A few minutes ago, Farkle thought he would be sitting out all of the dancing at the table, but instead, he finds himself dancing with all of his friends and next to the most beautiful girl in the whole universe.

\---------------

At the end of the night, they say their goodbyes outside of the school, and Maya give Riley a smirk before walking away with Lucas and Zay.

As Farkle watches them walk down the street, he asks Riley, “Where’s Maya going? Aren’t you guys going home together?”

“Not tonight,” Riley answers, looking down at the ground. She reaches out for his hand and adds, “Can you walk home with me?”

Farkle keeps his eyes fixed on their connected hands as he stammers, “S-sure.”

For Farkle, the journey back to Riley’s home is a combination of keeping his cool and making sure he isn’t holding her hand too tightly. It’s a cool, windy night, but Farkle doesn’t really feel cold. Walking next to Riley, he feels like her presence next to him is keeping him warm.

When they arrive at her front door, it’s very quiet in the hallway. With his hand still in hers, Farkle looks around at everything in the hall, intentionally avoiding her gaze. He finally realizes that he should say or do something when he feels Riley’s grip tighten on his hand. Looking directly at her, he takes in a sharp breath and is taken aback by her expression. He knows that look. It’s a look she used to give Lucas when they were still dating, but Farkle can’t understand why it’s directed at him.

“I had a really great time tonight, Farkle,” Riley says, lightly swinging their arms back and forth to defuse the nervous tension in the air.

“I did too,” he says softly.

“Well, I guess my parents are expecting me home soon. I should probably go inside.”

“Okay,” he replies. Farkle knows that was his cue to let go of her hand and say goodnight, but he doesn’t make a move, and to his surprise, neither does she.

The both let out a quiet chuckle before Riley speaks again. “I know it’s late, but do you want to come in? I could ask my mom to make us tea.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Riley smiles, clearly satisfied with his response, and opens the door to the apartment. Cory and Topanga are sitting on the couch when they enter, and Cory’s look of confusion at the sight of Farkle quickly turns into a smile as he invites them both to sit down at the kitchen table.

Farkle finds it comforting to know that her parents don’t really think it’s weird that he came home from a dance, hand in hand, with their daughter. But the thing that Farkle takes away from this visit to the Matthew’s home the most is that Riley doesn’t seem to mind either.


	5. It's Not a Side Effect of the Cocaine, I Am Thinking It Must Be Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _We'll make them so jealous._

Friday nights are the best. Farkle usually finishes his homework around seven, leaving the rest of the night and the whole weekend to relax and do whatever he wants. But the best thing about Friday nights by far is when Riley goes over to Farkle’s house.

This particular Friday, she’s coerced him to watch some documentary on rabbits, so they both get comfortable in Farkle’s movie theater chairs and watch it on the flat screen in his room. Half way through, Farkle realizes that he’s missed most of the documentary because the way Riley glows in the bright light of the screen is much more interesting to him.

Ever since the spring formal, he’s been daydreaming more and more about how things would be if they were dating. He can’t deny that he wants it. He craves it, actually. He wants to know what it would be like if they were together in a far-more-than-just-friends kind of way.

As Farkle stares blankly at the documentary, he imagines that his arm is around Riley’s shoulder. Maybe she would cuddle against him as they watch the film, or maybe they wouldn’t be watching it at all. Farkle shakes his head, as if that’s going to get rid of the fantasy that entered his mind. The ones that involve her lips usually never leave his thoughts.

Out of the corner of her eye, Riley sees Farkle staring at her, so she turns her head and looks directly at him. “Why do you keep staring at me? Am I particularly ugly today or something?” she jokes.

“W-what?” he stutters. “There has never been a day in your life that you’ve been ugly,” Farkle admits truthfully.

“Then what’s the problem?” she asks bluntly.

 _Now or never,_ he tells himself.

“Riley, I want to be with you,” he blurts out. He regrets the words immediately. He wishes he didn’t say them, and now he’s just waiting to hear her rejection.

“Farkle, we’re literally sitting next to each other. Problem solved,” she responds casually and then turns her head back to the screen.

_Even worse than rejection. She didn’t understand what I meant._

“No, problem not solved. We’re next to each other, but we’re not _together_.” He picks up the remote and pauses the documentary. “Riley, please listen to me.”

“It’s happening.”

“What’s happening?”

“This conversation. I knew it was going to happen.”

“Do you not want it to happen?” Farkle asks. He sits up on the edge of his seat and worries his bottom lip as he waits for her response. Luckily, he doesn’t have to wait long, because Riley quickly turns to face Farkle before answering.

“No, I do,” she says in a flustered voice, “but I don’t know how to do this, Farkle. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do once I’ve realized that I’ve fallen for my best friend.”

Farkle’s mouth opens in shock at her words. He slides back into his chair and relaxes against it, which gives him a second to take in the new information. After taking a deep breath, he says, “Well, I guess we’ll have to figure it out together, because I just happen to be in the exact same situation.”

His words elicit a soft laugh from Riley, but then her face returns to a serious expression. “I’m kind of nervous, Farkle.”

“I am too, but we’re going to figure it out,” Farkle reassures her.

“Together?”

“Together.”

Riley gets up from her chair after Farkle’s done speaking and walks over to where he’s sitting. She looks down at his seat, and he takes that as a signal to move over. He forces himself over to one side as Riley squeezes in next to him. After draping her legs over his, Riley looks over at Farkle, their faces close enough for him to notice that there’s light pink lip gloss on her lips, just like the ones in his fantasies. But these are _real_ and inches away from his.

“Hey,” she says with a smile.

“Hi.”

“I really wanted to sit next to you all night.”

“Me too,” he confesses.

“There’s one more thing I really want to do,” she says, placing her hand on his cheek and leaning in closer to his face.

“Are you going to kiss me?” Farkle whispers.

“Do you want me to?” Riley nervously asks back.

“Yes. Definitely yes,” he breathes. Farkle closes his eyes, waiting for the feeling of her lips on his, but instead, he hears a knock at his door and feels Riley jump off of him in surprise. She’s already back in her seat by the time his mom walks in.

“Hey Farkle, did you—oh, Riley, you’re still here?”

“Yes, Mrs. Minkus. Sorry for staying so late. I’ll be leaving soon.”

“No need to apologize, Riley. You’re always welcome here,” Jennifer replies. She smiles at them and then closes the door. They both let a sigh of relief after she leaves and then look at each other with wide eyes.

Farkle insists that they at least finish the documentary before Riley leaves, so they sit in an awkward silence as Farkle hits play on the remote. He thinks that everything has been messed up now and the moment is lost forever, but then he feels Riley’s hand grab his from across her seat, and he starts learning that he won’t have to daydream about these kinds of things anymore.


	6. Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I can't sleep in the wake of Saturday._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a random note, this is my favorite Fall Out Boy song!

The bell rings on the following Friday afternoon, and everyone rushes out of the history classroom to go home.

“So, do you want to hang out this weekend?” Riley asks Farkle as they walk into the hallway.

“Of course I do. We hang out every weekend.”

“Yeah, but this weekend feels kind of different, you know? Maybe we can go on a date?”

“Oh, yeah,” he says with a blush. “What do you want to do?”

“Nothing fancy, maybe just a nice dinner?”

“I know a really good place we can go to. I’ll pick you up around five?”

“Sounds great,” Riley says. She turns around and starts walking toward her locker, but a few seconds later, she stops herself and quickly walks back in Farkle’s direction. Once she’s standing in front of him again, she takes one more step closer and places a kiss on his cheek. “See you tomorrow,” she finishes before walking away. He stands frozen in that spot for a good minute or two with a huge smile on his face before making his way home.

Once he gets home, Farkle figures doing his homework will distract him from how long he has to wait to see Riley again, but an hour into getting work done, he gives up pretending he can focus on it. So, he throws himself onto his bed and wishes that time wasn’t moving so achingly slow. To pass the time, he tries naming all of the constellations on his ceiling, reading a book, and listening to music, but when he looks over at the clock on his nightstand and sees eleven forty-five in bright red numbers, he realizes he’s not even remotely tired.

Farkle tosses and turns restlessly in his bed, breathing deeply to keep the butterflies in his stomach at bay. He doesn’t know how he’s going to get any sleep with all this anticipation running through his veins. Lying in his bed, his mind is filled with thoughts of tomorrow.

_How is she going to look? Will she be wearing that perfume I like? What if she tries to kiss me again?_

Farkle groans and burrows his head into his pillow. Despite feeling slightly annoyed by the lack of sleep he will apparently get, a smile forms on his face. He’s tired and his head hurts a little, but he wouldn’t trade this excitement for anything.

\---------------

The next day, the thought of picking Riley up at her front door enters Farkle’s mind, but he settles on meeting her at the bay window instead. That’s always been his favorite way to get into the Matthew’s house, and he doesn’t want that to change just because of their new relationship. So in his best pair of dark jeans and a leather jacket, he climbs up to the window and enters Riley’s room. She’s not there, but he hears her voice protecting from the hallway.

“Mom, have you seen my curler?”

“It should be in the bathroom, honey,” Topanga replies.

“It _should be_ , but I don’t see it,” Riley whines.

“Farkle would think you look beautiful in sweatpants and a t-shirt,” Topanga scoffs. Farkle holds back a laugh because he knows it’s true. “Don’t stress yourself out, Riley. You could try an updo instead,” she suggests.

“That’s a good idea. Thanks, Mom.”

Farkle hears Riley’s footsteps get louder and louder as she approaches her room. For a second he thinks about hiding out of nervousness, but there is no time to carry out his plan because Riley is already walking into the room, and when she spots Farkle, she yelps.

“You’re early!”

“I know. I’m sorry,” he says, admiring her. He moves closer to her and notices that, yes, she _is_ wearing that perfume he likes, and even though he thinks she’s gorgeous no matter what she wears, he can’t stop himself from thinking about how good she looks in the skinny jeans and off-the-shoulder top she’s wearing. “You look amazing, Riley.”

“You do too,” she says. She fiddles with the collar of his jacket and fixes the sleeves before wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head in the crook of his neck. “This seems a little surreal,” she confesses, “but it feels so right.”

“I know what you mean,” Farkle agrees with his arms around her and a content expression on his face.

“I just want to fix my hair and then I’ll be ready to go,” she says, moving away from his embrace.

“No rush, Riley. Take your time,” Farkle assures her, and then he sits down at the bay window and watches as Riley ties her hair up. When she’s done a few minutes later, she sits down next to him.

“Ready?” she asks.

“Yes,” Farkle replies before making his way out of the window, but he gasps when he feels Riley grab his arm and pull him back inside.

“Wait, I just remembered that there’s actually one more thing I need to do,” she says, leaning in close to him.

Despite fantasizing about this moment over and over again the night before, Farkle is caught by surprise when she presses her lips to his. He can’t tell if it’s because of all of the anticipation, the fact that he has definitely never been kissed like this before, or just that this is Riley Matthews kissing him, but it’s _breathtaking_. The kiss makes him feel like he only just started living the exact moment her lips touched his. It’s like that kiss was the first breath he has ever taken and now he’ll always feel like he’s struggling for air without her lips on his.

When they break apart from each other, Farkle admits, “Do you know how long the thought of that kiss kept me up last night?”

Riley smirks, “And did it meet your expectations?”

“It blew them away, actually, and now it’s my turn to make you feel the same way. Dinner awaits us,” Farkle says with a hand extended toward Riley. She takes it and lets Farkle lead her out into the warm New York night.


	7. Of All the Gin Joints in All the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And, oh, the way your makeup stains my pillow case, like I’ll never be the same._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason why the series is rated T (although it's pretty mild, in my opinion).

It’s around nine at night when Farkle hears a knock at his bedroom door. He knows it’s Riley because she’s the one who told him she would be coming over, but the knock sounds urgent, and when he opens the door, Riley looks impatient.

“Hey, I got your text. Is everything okay? How did you sneak past my parents on the way up?” Farkle asks as Riley enters his room.

Riley’s reply is in the form of a kiss. It catches Farkle off guard and makes him almost lose his footing, but he finds his balance and wraps his arms around Riley. He can feel sparks transfer between them as his mouth moves in sync with hers.

Riley pulls away to breath, and Farkle’s panting slightly as he teases, “Riley, we just saw each other a few hours ago at school.”

“I know, but I really wanted to see you again,” she admits. She quietly closes the door and takes his hand, leading him to his bed and pulling him down onto the mattress next to her.

“Is this why you wanted to come over?” Farkle asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” she admits, leaning forward to kiss him again.

Farkle moves back a little, interrupting the kiss, to ask, “Wait, is this also why you were staring at me so much in math class today?”

Riley nods and they both laugh. At moments like this, her honesty is the best thing in the world. He’d listen to her talk all day about how much she wants him if it was possible.

She wraps her leg around his and holds his face in her hands. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” he says with a shudder. This time, it’s Farkle who leans forward, making their lips meet again. Riley grabs the back of his shirt like her life depends on it, and it forces Farkle in closer to her.

Their previous kisses had been soft and sweet, innocent even, so the shift to continuous and heated ones, while on his bed and tangled up in each other, are making Farkle’s head spin a little bit.

All of the sudden, Riley breaks the kiss, and with his eyes still closed, Farkle feels her move back toward him, placing a kiss on the side of his jaw. It makes him gasp, and he’s a little embarrassed at how loud it sounds in the large space of his room. Farkle opens his eyes and sees Riley smiling at him, and he immediately covers his face with his hands.

“Do you think we could turn off the lights?” he mumbles into his hands. Riley chuckles softly and moves his hands away from his face. He smiles shyly at her and continues, “It feels kind of weird doing this with all of the lights on in here.”

“Sure, but you don’t have to feel nervous around me, Farkle.”

“Teach me. Teach me how to not be so nervous about this.”

Riley smirks and reaches over to switch off the light on Farkle’s nightstand. Then, she cards her fingers through his hair, presses her lips against his neck, and whispers, “Lesson one.”

One thing Farkle definitely learns that night is that there are a lot of noises he can’t quite stop from escaping his lips. After a while, he gives up trying.

\---------------

Farkle wakes up with the morning light streaming through his windows. He allows his eyes a second to adjust, and when they do, his gaze lands on his pillow. He only notices then the soft pink lipstick stain on his pillowcase. Riley left really late, and he must have been so preoccupied that he didn’t even see it.

He thinks back to the night before and brings a hand up to his neck where there’s now a dark purplish red spot. Butterflies return to his stomach and images flood back into his mind as he smiles to himself. He buries his face in the lipstick-stained pillow and breathes in the smell of her perfume that’s still lingering there.

Everything is different now, and Farkle never wants to go back.


	8. Homesick at Space Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Tonight the headphones will deliver you the words that I can't say._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes about this chapter being sort of an AU: I am writing as if Riley and Farkle had never said “I love you” to each other before, and Farkle is rich in this, but not extravagantly so. 
> 
> Also, I'm including a playlist in the end notes since it is referenced in this chapter. 
> 
> So, this is the last chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who followed this series. I had a great time writing it, and I hope you enjoyed it too. ♥

“So, what time are you getting on the airplane tomorrow?” Riley asks with her head resting on Farkle’s shoulder. They haven’t moved from their spot on Riley’s living room couch for what seems like forever. It feels nice just to be by each other, because once Farkle leaves tomorrow for a family business trip, they won’t get to do that for a while.

“I think my mom said early in the morning, like around seven. I have to get up so early,” Farkle whines.

Riley pouts and says, “I know this trip is really important, but it’s hard to think that you’ll be gone for two weeks.”

“I’ll be back before you know it, and I’ll call you every night, okay?”

Riley nods and looks at her phone. “It’s already ten o’clock. You should probably get going.”

“I know,” Farkle sighs. He gets up from the couch with his hand still entwined with Riley’s, pulling her with him toward the door. He opens it and starts, “Riley, I-”

“Yeah?”

He hesitates, wondering if he should tell her, fighting with himself to say the three words that are caught in his throat, but his brain already decides his response for him when he adds, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Riley says, staring at Farkle. It’s like she’s waiting for more, but Farkle only gives her a quick kiss before making his way out the door. When he reaches the middle of the hallway, he hears Riley call out to him.

“Farkle, I-” Riley starts with confidence.

“Yeah?” he says with a hopeful expression, thinking maybe she has more courage than him.

She takes in a sharp breath before finishing, “I hope you have a safe flight.”

“Thanks,” he says, forcing a smile on his face before turning around to leave. He can feel the twinge of regret lodged in his chest. It’s lingering there, right next to his heart, and it stays with him throughout the whole two weeks.

\---------------

The trip actually goes by quicker than Farkle anticipated. He shadows his mother and father during meetings with prominent company leaders, and he does some sightseeing to keep his mind distracted. As promised, Farkle calls Riley every night, but they only talk about simple things like their days or new episodes of their favorite shows. After the awkward mess of a conversation he left Riley with before he left, he thinks sticking to less complicated topics for now is better, and Riley goes along with it up until the night before Farkle is going to return home. That night, her tone changes when they talk.

“Farkle, I’m sending you something right now,” she says through speaker phone.

“What is it?”

“It’s a playlist,” she answers nervously. Farkle hears his phone ding, signifying a new text message. “The songs are really important to me. They’re all connected together, just like how you and I are connected together.”

“What do you mean?”

“I really hope you can figure out, Farkle. I-I can’t say what I want to say. Not yet, at least. So for now, I hope the songs can deliver the message for me.”

She becomes silent then, both ends of the line quiet as thoughts run through their minds. Farkle promises to listen to the songs, and Riley tells him that she will be waiting at the airport the next day. Then, they whisper their goodbyes to each other before hanging up.

Farkle lies in his bed with his phone in his hand, going through the list and looking at the song titles. He downloads them all, and starting at song one, he presses play. Most of them, he notices, are slow with a soft melody. They’re the kind of songs that make Farkle’s heartbeat speed up and his mind wander. At first, he thinks Riley just picked them because they are romantic and sound nice, but as he closes his eyes and listens to the lyrics, it doesn’t take him long to notice the common thread between them. It’s one word: _love_. And sometimes, it’s three words: _I love you_.

Farkle’s breath hitches at the thought. She _loves_ him. Well, that’s not totally new. After years of friendship, it seems obvious that they care for each other deeply, but it’s something totally different to know that she’s _in love_ with him.

Farkle pulls up Riley’s number on his phone and places his finger over the call button, but he resists the urge to press it. He knows this is something they need to tell each other in person. So somehow, he’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

\---------------

The next morning, Farkle’s already fidgeting in his seat even before the plane touches down, and the second the pilot tells the passengers that they can exit, he bolts out of the plane and into the airport.

He walks past what seems like a million shops and has to go down two escalators before Riley comes into view. He’s never run so fast in his life. It’s as if his legs are moving on their own accord, working so desperately to get to her. As he approaches her, he can see tears pooling in her eyes, but he only catches the sight for a split second before colliding into her and feeling Riley’s arms wrap tightly around him. Her words are quiet and muffled into his shirt sleeve, but somehow, he hears them perfectly clear.

“Farkle, I love you. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before you left. I’ll say it a million times every day to make up for it.”

“Riley,” he breathes, taking in every overwhelming, incredible feeling she’s giving him.

“I love you. I love you. _I love you_.”

“And I love you, Riley.”

Holding Riley in his arms, Farkle looks at the people passing by them. They walk by, unaware of how his whole world is changing around him. He thinks situations like this must happen all the time in airports. People cry, laugh, embrace, and kiss. So maybe their situation isn’t unique. Maybe millions of people have experienced the same thing in that exact same spot. But this is _their_ moment, and it’s golden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Riley’s Playlist for Farkle**
> 
> Plain White T's - 1, 2, 3, 4  
> Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat – Lucky  
> Haley Reinhart- Can't Help Falling in Love With You  
> Ed Sheeran- Tenerife Sea  
> Christina Perri - A Thousand Years  
> Adele - Make You Feel My Love  
> Tori Kelly - I Was Made For Loving You ft. Ed Sheeran


End file.
